Weasley Shuffle
by Bad Mum
Summary: Put on a music player and get ready to write. Once ready, start and hit your play button. You only have for as long as the song plays to write out a piece of your choice." For the HPFanfiction Challenges forum Shuffle challenge. Jango plus The Weasleys.
1. I

_Written for the Shuffle Challenge at the HP Fanfiction Challenges forum. You switch on a music player (I used Jango), play five tracks (or more, but I went for five) and write just for the time they are playing, inspired by them. You're not supposed to skip tracks, but I cheated and skipped a couple. (NO WAY was I writing a Weasley drabble inspired by "Mrs. Robinson"!)_

_Not very polished, but that's the point._

_The songs are by Queen; Paul Simon; Plain White Tees (and the name is wrong - I wasn't going to invent an OC called Delilah - pretend it says Ginny!); Dido and U2._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**I. We will rock you** _(Fred and George)_

"So, we're going to take on the world someday?" George asks, with a grin.

"What do you mean someday? What d'you think we're doing right now?" his twin asks.

"It's a joke shop, Fred. Hardly world-shattering."

"Godric, George. I thought we were together on this. Today, a joke shop, tomorrow the world…"

**II. Graceland **_(Molly and Arthur)_

"Our place," Arthur grins down at his wife. "Our very own…"

Molly is less certain than he is. Her back is aching already, and she feels as if she has looked at so many houses today that she can't keep track of which is which. Why is he so certain that this is _the one_?

"Look, Moll… Up here." Arthur is upstairs, and she pulls herself up with the banister to join him. If she has her way, this unplanned baby will be an only child.

Arthur is crouched in one of the abandoned bedrooms. There is practically no furniture in the house, but here, for some reason something is left. A carved oak cradle. It is beautiful.

Molly smiles. Perhaps he is right. This is the place for them. A place to call home. A gift.

**III. Hey there Delilah** _(Ginny and Harry)_

Separation sucks, Ginny decides. She knows the reasons for it, and they are good ones. Harry has to do his Auror training. (Although Kingsley was adamant he could skip most of it, Harry insisted he should be treated like everyone else. Like that's possible for The Boy Who Saved the World.)

And she has her training and her matches. She could give Quidditch up, of course, but she doesn't want to. She has to be herself, to find who Ginny Weasley is as an independent person. Being the girlfriend of the Boy Who Lived is bad enough. Being Mrs. Harry Potter before having a life of her own would be worse.

Two years. They can survive that. And it's not like they never see each other. Each weekend they manage together, each stolen evening, is special because they are so few.

Then, when it is over, they will have the life they knew they should.

**IV. Don't leave home**_ (Ron and Hermione)_

"I'm not going anywhere, but I won't get in your way." Ron is insistent.

Hermione scowls at him. She has exams next week, and she knows Ron being there will distract her. His idea of being unobtrusive does not correspond with hers. He is physically incapable of sitting still (not his fault, she supposes - it seems to be a family trait). And he will ask her how she is doing or offer her coffee just at the wrong point. She knows he is trying to help, but…

But as she gets her books out and settles herself at the table, she catches the look on Ron's face as he watches her.

He loves her. He is here because she needs him as much as he does her.

They belong together, even when it is inconvenient.

She should have learnt by now that he is her safe haven.

**V. Vertigo**_ (Bill and Fleur)_

She makes him dizzy sometimes. He laughs at her and says that she is actually too beautiful to be legal, and one day Magical Law Enforcement will catch up with the pair of them and arrest them – her for her beauty, and him for being ensnared by it.

She scowls at him (and she is beautiful even when she scowls) and says if he doesn't love her for more than her beauty, she is leaving right now.

She has no reason to leave, and she knows it. There is so much about her that he loves. The way she turns her head to one side when she is listening; the way she needs to understand what is going on; the mistakes she makes in English. And bigger things – her kindness (which people miss sometimes because sometimes she speaks before she thinks); her caring nature; the way she loves him.

Fleur makes him dizzy.


	2. II

_I had such fun with this, that I had to write some more. _

_The artists this time are Paul Simon (again!), the Police, U2 (again!), Bill Joel and Dido (again!)_

_This is my own post-DH AU/SU so the pairings are mine, rather than JKR's._

**Weasley Shuffle **

**VI. Late in the evening**_ (Percy and George)_

It is far too late, and they should go home.

So says the sensible part of Percy's brain. But the rest of him is having far too much fun. The music is louder than he would normally have thought tolerable, and he has lost count of how many drinks he has had.

Penny has her head on his shoulder, and is looking up at him with an expression that makes him want to tame dragons (only that's Charlie's job) or fight Dark wizards (Harry's job) or break scary curses (Bill's).

And he is only a civil servant, and will have a hell of a headache in the morning.

But best of all, on the other side of the table, George has his arm around Katie's shoulders, and is smiling like he used to do when Fred was alive.

That in itself is worth a hangover tomorrow.

**VII. Every breath you take** _(Harry, Ginny and James)_

Harry is watching Ginny feed James. He is not even sure that she knows he is there. It is two in the morning, and they are both exhausted. James is a fortnight old, and Harry is beginning to forget what sleep is like. It must be even worse for her.

Everyone tells them it will get better eventually. Bill told him that once Victoire was a month old, he had got so used to not sleeping that it began to feel almost normal. Harry _thinks _that was supposed to be reassuring.

Right now, he should be sleeping – or at least resting – so that he can take James over and do the walking round the bedroom bit with him once the feed is over, and let Ginny catch a nap.

But he loves watching them. Every breath, every sigh, every wave of the tiny arm.

Ginny.

James.

His family.

Every breath. He will be there for them.

**VIII. All because of you**_ (Arthur and Molly)_

It is odd to be older, to have moved up a generation, to be the grandfather instead of the father. It is odd to see Bill or Percy or Ron (and especially George!) being the one to try to bring the kids into order, while he is the indulgent granddad. Sometimes he can't imagine quite how it happened.

But then he sees Molly with the grandchildren, and he begins to understand. The minute she held Victoire for the first time, it was obvious that she was born to be a grandmother as she had been born to be a mother.

He smiles at her as she deals with James' scraped knee.

Because of her, he was able to be a decent father.

Now, because of her, he manages to be a grandfather.

**IX. Uptown girl**_ (Charlie and Eleri)_

She is very different from him. She has lived all over the world. He has managed Devon, Hogwarts and Romania.

He scraped through most of his exams, and is a dragon keeper

Eleri aced every exam she ever took – despite the six (or seven?) different schools she went to, speaks six languages fluently (with a smattering of four others), and has a high-up job for the Ministry of Magic liaising with foreign ministries.

Beyond the fact that her brother is his best friend, and that Charlie works with him, they have nothing at all in common.

But she is dancing in his arms, looking up at him with her eyes alight with laughter.

She loves him.

He still cannot quite believe it.

**X. White flag**_ (George and Katie)_

His surrender is complete. She is necessary to him, like breathing. She was the one who picked him up, put him back together, held him – so many times.

Not the only one, of course, there was his family and his friends. But she was different. She accepted him for who he was now, regretting who he had been – that person who died with his twin – but accepting him completely for who he was now, and helping that new George to learn to live again.

Now he cannot imagine life without her. The brief period when they were first going out, and – in one of the very worst periods of his mourning for Fred – he told her to go, and she took him at his word, is a nightmare he cannot remember without going cold. He is immensely grateful that she cared enough to come back, to continue to be there for him, even though being with him at that time must have been so hard, must have been like a little death for her.

He is in love, and always will be. He needs her.

And she knows it, and will not leave him, even on the hardest days.


	3. III

_I am having **way** too much fun with this!_

_Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon (on his own, and of course the name is wrong), The Police, Dido, U2._

**Weasly Shuffle**

**XI. The Sound of Silence**_ (Molly)_

It is too quiet. She is not used any more to The Burrow being empty. For the last few weeks, there has always been someone here. But now they are all trying to get back to normality.

As if anything can ever be normal again.

Arthur and Percy will be back later, of course. They are just at work, but the hours at the Ministry are so long nowadays. Still, it is good to have Percy home…

Bill has gone back to work, and he and Fleur are back living at Shell Cottage. It is natural that they want to be in their own home, but Molly wishes they were still here.

Charlie has gone back to Romania, despite her protests.

Ron and Hermione are in Australia.

Ginny and Harry are helping George with the shop.

George… He should be here, she feels, but knows that wouldn't really help. He has to go back to his life, however hard, however different that life is now.

But the silence is too much for Molly.

**XII. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard**_ (Fred and George)_

"It'll never work."

"Cynic. Of course it will!"

"Snape'll catch us."

"Has that ever bothered us before, George?"

George laughs. "Guess not."

The tripwire is pulled tight across the entrance, that much more effective for being magical and therefore invisible. The potions master goes flying as he comes out of his dungeon, setting off fireworks and dungbombs by the score.

A week of detentions, and a Howler from their mother is a small price to pay, the twins feel.

**XIII. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic**_ (Bill)_

There is magic, and there is _magic_, Bill feels. There is the ordinary everyday magic that they take for granted – to open a door, repair a broken cup, heat their tea in the morning, Apparate to work, break a curse.

And there is the _magic_ Fleur works on him.

The turn of her head, the way she flicks her hair, her laugh, her hand on her wand, the way she says his name…. Not because she is part Veela, not because of her beauty, but because of _her_, the person she is.

Magic can ensnare you, Bill knows.

And the type Fleur has – without even realising it – certainly has him trapped.

Not that he'd have it any other way.

**XIV. Life For Rent**_ (George)_

This isn't how his life was meant to be. They had a plan, a vision.

But there were two of them. It was never going to work for just one.

So he has to rethink.

He could jack the whole thing in, of course. Give up the lease on the shop, get what his mother would call a "proper job".

But he couldn't do that. He'd not survive a week in a job like Percy's, or even Bill's.

And he couldn't do that to Fred,

He feels as if his life is suspended, that nothing he has really belongs to him.

But if part of what he is is Fred's, then he owes it to him to do his best with it.

However hard it is.

Going back to the shop alone is hard the first time, and gets harder as time goes on, but he keeps at it.

Surely, one day it will get easier?

It must do.

**XV. Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of**_ (Percy)_

He is stuck. He made his choices – and he knows now how wrong they were – and now he is stuck with them.

Just a week ago, he had the option to change the way his life was going. He could have swallowed his pride, crossed the wards surrounding The Burrow (he knows his mother well enough to know they would let _him_ through) and gone to Bill and Fleur's wedding. The twins might have beaten him up, Charlie would have told him _precisely _what he thought of him, Ron would have looked unhappy and confused, Ginny might have regarded him with contempt. (Bill himself would probably have been too happy to even notice him). But he would have got past all of that.

He would have been _home_.

Now, he's missed his chance. The Ministry has fallen, and he is on the inside.

Where he wanted to be. Where he _chose _to be.

Percy hates himself for the choices he made.

He bides his time, watches and waits.

One day, somehow, surely, there must be a way out.

A way home.


	4. IV

_This time it's The Osmonds, Sting, Dido for the umpteenth time (her songs are good to write for!), The Police and Abba._

_I guess my music tastes reflect how old I am!_

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XVI. Love Me For A Reason** _(Bill and Fleur)_

Fleur is furious.

"Zat is not a reason!" she shouts. She even stamps her foot.

Bill is holding his hands out, trying to placate her, and wondering just what he said to make her _quite_ so angry. Since when was telling a woman she is beautiful the wrong thing to say?

"Fleur, will you calm down, and just listen?" he implores.

"No, I will not! Eef you only love me because I am beautiful, zen you can walk out of zat door and never come back, Bill Weasley!"

"I never said that! I said you were beautiful, which is true. But I _didn't _say that was why I loved you. I said I loved the way you look."

"Zat is ze same sing." Fleur is in an obstinate mood.

"I don't think so. Not in English, anyway. I _do _love the way you look, but I love you for much more than that."

"Tell me…" Fleur is not going to be satisfied easily, but she is beginning to come round.

"I'd rather show you," Bill says, as he takes her in his arms and kisses her.

**XVII. Brand New Day** _(Charlie)_

Charlie tells himself that today is a new day, that things can't possibly go as they did yesterday.

And he knows he has to do this. If he doesn't – if he puts it off – it will be even harder tomorrow, or the next day, and eventually there will be a day when he finds he can't do it at all.

The Healer did a good job. His arm is still bandaged, but it barely hurts. (And scars make you more attractive to women, Idris told him with a grin)

Idris and Louis are behind him, and he knows they will intervene if there is a problem. But there shouldn't be. He knows what he is doing. (He knew what he was doing yesterday, but he still got burnt…)

"Go for it, Weasley," he mutters under his breath, and reddens as he realises that his friends must have heard him.

"Just do it, Char," Idris urges.

Charlie takes a deep breath, and enters the dragon enclosure. The Horntail looks at him, but hardly moves as he goes over to the nest to check the eggs. She is wary, but she isn't going to hurt him. He's giving out the right signals, she knows he isn't a threat.

Not today.

**XVIII. Who Makes You Feel **_(Molly)_

Molly had never realised it was possible to feel this tired. She thought she knew how to do babies. Even Charlie slept sometimes. But Fred and George are quite a different matter. Although they can't bear to be apart, they seem to be quite happy to be together with one asleep and the other awake – and they seem to have a private agreement that at least one of them has to be awake for most of the night.

It took her two hours to settle Fred when he woke at two in the morning. Ten minutes – _ten minutes _– after she returned to her own bed, George was awake.

She knows Arthur does his best, but he has his job, and he can't be up all night if he is to go to work in the morning.

What she would really like – more than sleep, more than a morning without the older boys squabbling or falling off a toy broomstick or refusing to eat breakfast - is time alone with Arthur.

They barely speak these days apart from the most businesslike: "When will you be in?"; "Can you take Bill and Charlie out on their broomsticks at the weekend?"; "There's no tea, the twins wouldn't settle." Anything more – real conversation - would be sheer luxury.

Molly finally scrambles back into bed fifteen minutes before Arthur's alarm goes off. He seems to be asleep, but he rolls over and pulls her to him, and she relaxes into his arms.

No one makes her feel the way he does.

**XIX. Invisible Sun** _(Ron)_

Hold on, he tells himself. There is a reason, a purpose for all this. On the hardest days, the darkest nights, when the bloody _fucking_ Horcrux is round his neck and he feels as if he'll never be happy again, he tries so hard to hold on.

There is hope, a future, a light in the darkness. There is hope that they will win. There has to be.

He holds onto the good things. He tries to remember winning at Quiddditch – "Weasley is our King"; times with Harry in the common room, just mucking around together; Mum's cooking; Fred and George grinning; even Percy laying down the law… Hold on, just hold on to the light…

Most of all, he tries to think of Hermione, and what their lives will be like one day, when this is all over.

But it is so hard, and one day he loses it. Loses his temper, loses his hold on the light.

He leaves.

And he cannot go back.

**XX. Money, Money, Money** _(Arthur)_

Sometimes Arthur feels as if there is nothing in his life but work.

He goes to work. He works extra hours. He comes home so exhausted that he barely has the energy to have a conversation with Molly, let alone play Quidditch in the orchard with the boys, as he would like, or take Ginny to Diagon Alley for an ice cream (which would be a luxury they couldn't really afford anyway.)

Everything seems to come down to money.

Charlie needs new school robes… When the twins start school, that will be two wands, two sets of books, two cauldrons… And Ginny has grown out of her shoes _again_…

He doesn't want to be rich.

But to be better off would be wonderful.


	5. V

_Yet more. I know Harry isn't strictly a Weasley, but he is one of the family..._

_Ultravox, Eva Cassidy's version of "Over the rainbow" (which I totally adore), The Police, Paul Simon, even more U2._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XXI. We came to dance**_ (Percy)_

"Let yourself go, Percy. Just for once!"

Percy looks at Penny and wonders just what she sees in him. He wishes he could dance as she does, as if she and the music are connected somehow. _He _cannot manage to be anything but stiff and jerky, however hard he tries.

Penny puts her hands on his shoulders and smiles up at him. Something melts inside him at the look in her eyes. Just what does she see in him?

The track changes, and Penny slings her arm around his waist, pulling him further onto the dance floor. Suddenly Percy doesn't care any more – what he looks like, how out of sync with the music he might be.

This girl – this beautiful, passionate, wonderful girl – loves him.

He smiles back at her, puts his arms around her and dances.

**XXII. Over the Rainbow**_ (Bill)_

One day, it won't be like this. One day, he won't have to tell Fleur half-truths and downright lies. One day, they will be able to plan to go out, and know that nothing will happen at the last minute that will stop them. One day, he will be able to tell her everything. And one day all this will no longer matter because it will just be a memory.

One day, he will no longer have to spend evenings of total boredom watching Death Eater hideouts, and others of exhilaration and action mixed with moments of sheer terror fighting the bastards. One day, he won't jump every time an owl comes through the window, or the Floo crackles into life. One day, he won't automatically reach for his wand every time there is someone at the door or a noise that wakes him in the night.

One day, Fleur will be his wife, and they will have a family and an ordinary life.

One day, all this will be over, and they will be free.

One day. He has to believe it.

**XXIII. Wrapped around your finger**_ (Ron and Hermione)_

"Candy floss? Are you sure Hermione?"

"Yes, Ronald, I'm sure." Hermione doesn't quite roll her eyes, but she might as well have done.

"Where am I going to find candy floss at one in the morning in the middle of winter?"

"I don't know, do I? Use your initiative."

Ron sighs, pulls on his cloak and goes out. He knows from experience that by the time he comes back with the elusive foodstuff that Hermione just _has_ to have – pickles, chicken tikka, watermelon, lemon meringue pie, sushi - she will probably have changed her mind.

She has. He comes back with the candy floss an hour or so later (there was a fairground on the common, and he bribed the stallholder to leave his mates and his beer to sell him some despite the lateness of the hour), to find Hermione sitting up in bed reading, and eating pancakes with leftover chilli.

He sighs, and climbs into bed beside her, putting his hand onto her swollen belly and feeling the baby kick.

He is wrapped around her finger – their fingers in fact. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

**XXIV. Still crazy after all these years**_ (Molly and Arthur)_

"Arthur! No!" Molly is laughing so hard that she can hardly talk.

Her husband is chasing her round the kitchen with a look on his face that can only be described as lecherous. He catches her at last, and starts to undo her blouse.

"Arthur! What if the children come in?"

"Let them! I'm sure they've worked out where they came from by now."

"Arthur!" Molly is laughing so much now that she has to surrender, and falls back into the big armchair by the fire. Arthur joins her, and flicks his wand to make sure the kitchen door is _very_ firmly locked.

**XXV. Pride (in the name of love)**_ (Harry)_

He hates this. He hates having to stand up and make speeches and have everyone think of him as a hero. There are so many heroes, so many people who fought. So many people who lost their lives or their loved ones, or who still bear the scars – physical and mental - of all that happened.

Why is he more than a hero then Remus or Fred or Colin or Sirius or Ted Tonks or Moody or his parents or than _anyone_ who died?

Or more than Frank and Alice Longbottom who will never be able to understand the victory they helped win? Than Bill, who can't walk down the street without people staring at his face? Than George, who lives every day with the reality of his loss in his own appearance, his own voice?

But he has to do this. He catches Ginny's eye in the front row as he steps up to the podium and begins his speech. He has to do this.

For her. For all of them.


	6. VI

_The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Billy Joel, System of a Down and Sting._

_(This is my own personal post-DH SU, and Eleri is my own. Everyone else belongs to JKR.)_

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XXVI. Let it be**_ (Molly and Arthur)_

Sometimes you can't change things. And sometimes dwelling on things you can't change just makes that worse.

"Molly, love… Let it be," Arthur whispers. Molly is sitting at the kitchen table, a photo album in front of her, tears streaming unchecked down her face. So many pictures, so many memories.

Fred…

Oh, Fred…

"Molly, leave it." Arthur's voice is firmer now. "Leave it. You're going to make yourself ill."

Molly knows he is right. With a sigh, she closes the book, and allows Arthur to pull her to her feet and lead her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to bed. She is grateful for his strong arms around her. She does not think she would make it on her own.

George will be twenty-one tomorrow.

**XXVII. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)**_ (Ron)_

What would he do if he could do anything? If he could go anywhere, be anything, not be who he was?

If he wasn't forever one of the so-called Golden Trio? (He hates that epithet even more than Harry and Hermione do). If he wasn't "Harry Potter's best friend"? If he hadn't gone to work with George in the shop? (Not that he'd wanted to do anything else under the circumstances, but what would he have done if Fred had lived?)

He looks at Hermione sitting in the garden, stroking her swollen belly and laughing at Rosie splashing in the paddling pool.

Whatever he would have done differently, this would have been the same.

**XXVIII. Just the Way You Are**_ (Charlie and Eleri)_

"Charlie, don't!"

"Don't what?" Charlie looks at Eleri in genuine puzzlement.

"Put yourself down all the time. I hate it, and you don't deserve it."

Charlie snorts. "Eleri, look at me. I'm only a dragon keeper, and you…"

"What? I speak lots of languages and I'm good at passing exams. So what? Charlie, I wasn't _me _until I found you. And I don't want you any different. I love _you_. Don't you dare change."

Charlie smiles and pulls her onto his lap. "I can't believe someone like you fell for someone like me."

"Someone like me? I'm a person like you, Charlie. The rest is incidental."

"I know." He pulls her face down to his and kisses her hard.

They belong together.

**XXIX. Lonely Day**_ (George)_

Another day. Each one is the same. Every day he wakes, and for a few seconds – a minute or so if he is lucky – he forgets. They are the best few seconds of his day. For those few seconds, he is complete again. One of a pair. The Weasley twins. FredandGeorge.

Then he wakes, and remembers, and the rest of the day is a struggle. He is broken, incomplete. No one to finish his sentences. No one to understand what he means when he can't express it properly. No one to know what he is thinking without having to tell them.

Every day he is lonely.

**XXX. Shape of my heart **_(The Weasley Family)_

They fight, because they must. Given the choice, of course, they would opt for a peaceful life. But they have to do what is right.

Being part of the Order, fighting You Know Who is just what they have to do. None of them believe they have a choice.

Molly and Arthur – first time round, they opted out. For the sake of the children. They still wonder if that was the right choice. Now they fight – for the sake of the children.

Bill fights because of how he was brought up. To fight for what is right, to stick up for those who are weaker. Because it is the right thing to do.

Charlie is less self-sacrificing than his older brother. He fights, but on his own terms. One day he may regret not doing more, but right now he is doing all he is capable of.

Fred and George were desperate to join in, not to be left out, and now that they are full members of the Order they are beginning to understand the reality of war. Not just glory and valour, but boredom sometimes and terror and loss. But they do not regret the choice.

Ron fights for Harry, for Hermione. He has no choice. He would not choose differently if he had.

And Ginny – too young for the Order – fights too. The resistance at Hogwarts is part of all this, and will be remembered with honour.

(Percy is doing what he thinks is right too. He will regret always the wrong choices he made, but his family will help him understand that he made the wrong choices for the right reasons.)


	7. VII

_For the record, since it seems to be necessary - I write because I enjoy it. I write for me, and for my friends, and for the other people who read my things and enjoy them. _

_I do not write to order, though I may do a request for a friend now and again._

_I do **not** write for the benefit of people who never bother to leave a review, and when they finally do, just tell me that what I'm doing is stupid and I should be doing something else. Especially when they have neither the guts nor the courtesy to leave a recognisable name or an email address._

_I think you know who you are..._

_I **hope** "Birthdays and Beyond" will be updated next week. When **I **am good and ready. Same for "Il faut...". I know a lot of people care about those fics, and I am happy and grateful for that. But I think 100+ reviews shows that this story has its fans too, as do the other "stupid random things" I've posted recently. _

_If that's a problem for you, please go and read elsewhere._

_Thanks._

**_Now, to the matter in hand - Eurythmics, Abba, Eurythmics again, U2 for the umpteenth time, and Eva Cassidy's version of Sting's amazing "Fields of Gold"._**

**_JKR's universe, of course, though the Percy/Penny pairing is part of my own AU. _**

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XXXI. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)**_ (Molly)_

In the darkest days of the war, she dreams.

Playing with Fabian and Gideon in the big overgrown garden of their house outside London.

The first day on the Hogwarts Express.

Dancing with Arthur, neither of them aware of the music because they are so aware of each other.

Their wedding

Every baby.

Laughing at the boys and Arthur playing snowballs in the orchard, a twin asleep on each arm.

Gideon laughing, and Fabian with his arm round her shoulders telling her, "Don't take life so seriously, Moll!"

Christmases and birthdays. Cakes, laughter, balloons, fireworks, presents.

Ordinary things. Fittings for school robes at Madam Malkin's. Breakfast in bed on Mothers Day. Charlie finding yet another pet. Bill telling her he was going to Egypt. Percy reading, looking so serious.

Sweet dreams.

But all true.

**XXXII. Dancing Queen** _(Ron and Hermione)_

This isn't the Hermione he thought he knew. She looks amazing. How has she got her hair to look like that? And her dress… He is used to seeing her in school robes or in jeans and sweater. Not like this, in a dress fit for a princess.

She twirls in Krum's arms. Ron scowls.

At Bill and Fleur's wedding, he is less surprised, but still overwhelmed with how she looks. She really is gorgeous…

At least she is dancing with him now.

At their wedding, Ron seriously believes Hermione is the most beautiful woman in the world. Her dress is gorgeous, her hair perfect, but he cannot take his eyes from her face.

And she is dancing in his arms, and her smiles are for him only.

**XXXIII. Would I lie to you?** _(Bill)_

He is not lying, but he is not telling her the whole truth either. They have been going out only a few weeks, but he knows already that Fleur is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. This is so different from how it was with Sarah or Bette or Jen or Yasmina….

But he can't tell her the full truth. He trusts her. Completely. For himself.

But he can't expect others to place that full trust in her yet, nor can he entrust secrets that would endanger others to her. So he makes excuses, and sees in her eyes that she does not believe him.

He wishes more than anything he could tell her the truth. "We were getting a family of Muggle-borns to safety"; "We had to watch a group of Death Eaters to see where they were planning to attack next if we could." Instead he makes vague excuses about work or family events, and knows that she doesn't believe him.

He longs for the day when he can tell her the whole truth.

**XXXIV. Crumbs from your table**_ (Percy and Penny)_

She smiles at him across a crowded bar, and suddenly he remembers. Walks in the Hogwarts grounds; stolen moments when they were supposed to be patrolling as Prefects; doing homework together; smiling at each other from their separate tables at mealtimes; how bad he felt when she was petrified by the Basilisk.

Could they have that again? They hadn't finished well. A stupid argument about priorities and ambition…

But she is smiling as if she is pleased to see him. And he is _so_ lonely.

He needs a miracle. A sign of hope. Something – a crumb of comfort.

He takes a deep breath and stands up. Crossing over to where she is sitting on the other side of the bar seems to take at least a month. He clears his throat. "Penny?" He manages a kind of smile. "Can I buy you a drink?"

She smiles and nods. Perhaps it is a sign.

**XXXV. Fields of Gold**_ (George and Fred)_

_"Remember those who died for our freedom."_

Words on a memorial. True, but insufficient.

Remembering is every day. All the time. Everything he does is a memory. Doing it with Fred. The very fact he is now doing it alone makes the act a remembrance.

They never imagined that one of them would go on without the other. If they thought of dying, they thought of doing it together.

Until that day when George lost his ear, and the realisation that this was for real, and that he could have died. One of them could have died and left the other behind.

And the promise. In the dark, that night. No one else ever knew. George never told anyone.

"George? If you'd died…"

"I didn't…"

"You could have…"

"I know."

Silence.

"Fred… If one of us… The other one - has to…"

Silence.

"Go on. I know."

"I promise."

"Me too."

Silence, and they both pretend they cannot hear the other crying.

So George goes on, as he promised, to a golden future that is his alone.


	8. VIII

_Unlike the other sections, this one was handwritten on a train, with music from my MP3 player rather than Jango. There is an awful lot of U2 and Queen on there..._

_I have no idea if anyone will agree with me on this, but number 39 - Bill, Fred and George - is my favourite of the whole lot so far, and a theme I defintely would like to expand on in the future._

_U2, Queen, U2, Queen, Eva Cassidy._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XXXVI. Original of the Species**_ (Ginny)_

_(Some things you shouldn't get too good at, like smiling, crying and celebrity)_

Neither of them are good at celebrity. Harry had, since he was eleven, got used to it to some extent. Everyone knew about The Boy Who Lived – knew more than he did himself at first.

But for Ginny, the attention is new. Attention for herself – for Ginny Weasley, the Harpies Chaser who put seven past Oliver Wood on one memorable occasion – is bearable. Attention because she is "Mrs. Harry Potter" is another thing altogether. Sometimes she wants to scream that she is a person too, not just an extension of Harry, the mother of his children. (His! As if they are not her children too!)

But it comes with the territory. She knew it when they went out together after Voldemort's defeat and could never manage an evening's peace and quiet without being approached by somebody wanting to talk to The Saviour of the Wizarding World. She knew it with the media storm that surrounded their wedding, and that continued with the birth of each of their children as if James and Albus and Lily somehow belong to the whole world instead of just to her and Harry.

She knew about it.

But she does not think she will ever get used to it.

**XXXVII. It's a Hard Life**_ (George)_

A reason for living. Perhaps if he carries on, he will find it. He will get past his broken heart and learn how to live again.

With no one there for him – the other half of himself. Perhaps his incompleteness is nothing more than a state of mind.

Then Victoire is born, and the first time he holds her – with Bill hovering near in case he drops her (as if he would drop anything so precious) – he knows. He understands as he never did before that this is what he – what Fred – fought for.

The future. Hope. Love.

However hard, there is a reason to live.

**XXXVIII. Beautiful Day **_(Fleur)_

She hates this place. She hates London, how grey everything is. She hates speaking English all the time, having to think about every word instead of just talking. She hates her spiteful boss, and the co-workers who bitch and snipe because she is beautiful.

She wants to go home, to see Maman and Papa and Gabrielle.

She _so _wants to go home.

She sits at her desk and cries, and she thinks that no one notices or cares.

But then Bill Weasley (the best-looking man in the bank) comes and sits on her desk and gives her chocolate and smiles and sympathises and really seems to understand.

Perhaps today was a good day after all.

Funny how one person can change how you see things.

Perhaps forever.

**XXXIX. The Show Must Go On**_ (Bill, Fred and George)_

They are too late. They can tell as soon as they get to the house. The windows are blasted out, the curtains flapping; the door swings on its hinges.

Fred finds them. The whole family, huddled together in the kitchen. Father, mother, three children – the youngest little more than a baby. All dead. Blasted out of existence for the crime of having non-magical parents or grandparents.

There are tears on Fred's face which he brushes away furiously, but his brothers both see them. George smashes one of the few intact windows in sheer frustration, and Bill mutters the spell to heal the cuts on his kid brother's hand without comment because he knows how he feels.

They have to carry on.

Today they were too late.

Tomorrow, or the next time, they might not be.

**XL. You Take My Breath Away**_ (Molly)_

She never knew the power of love until her children were born. She loved her parents, her brothers, her friends. She loves Arthur with an undying passion. But this is different.

When Bill (William, he was called then) was born, she felt she could never love anyone as she loved this tiny scrap of humanity who depended on her for everything. When she was pregnant with Charlie, she worried that she could not possibly love this baby as she did her first.

But she discovered – with Charlie, and with the others as they came – that a mother's love is infinitely expandable. She would do anything, give her very life for any one of them – however old they are.

So, when she faced Bellatrix Lestrange, her fury and her passion were not only right, they were inevitable, part of herself. Evidence of a mother's love, which does not – cannot – be defeated or die.

Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it even scares her. But she would not exchange her love for her children for anything.


	9. IX

_Yet more! 42 is more of the same from number 39 - the song title was too tempting NOT to do that. I really need to write a longer fic covering the members of the Order during DH._

_And the last one is a cheat, because Fabian and Gideon are Prewetts not Weasleys. But they count as Weasleys in my head!_

_Ultravox, Dire Straits, Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, Spandau Ballet._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XXXXI. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes**_ (Bill and Fleur)_

It is false, this celebration. They both know it, but they do it anyway. It _is _good to be able to go out together without the fear that was always there before.

Fleur is enjoying the music, and the feeling of being in Bill's arms. He loves her warmth, the way she looks up at him.

They are free. Free to love, to dance, to live.

But it is not as it should be. Too many people have died.

_Fred _has died.

This evening – the music, the people, the lights – should be one of unalloyed pleasure, of celebration of the new life they can now begin.

But it is always there. The sadness, the loss. They can pretend they forget, but it is always there beneath the surface.

They won, but Fred is dead.

Fleur is not surprised to see tears in Bill's eyes when she reaches up to kiss him as the song ends.

**XXXXII. Brothers in arms** _(Bill, Fred and George)_

They cannot see each other, but they are very aware of where the others are. Bill is at the back of the house, George and Fred covering the front between them. Kingsley and Remus are here too, but the brothers are not so aware of them. (It is a weakness in working as a team, and they recognise it, but they cannot help it. Any one of them would risk his life for Kingsley or for Remus, but family is different. It is just a fact.)

The bands around their wrists warm at Kingsley's signal. Time to go in.

The twins rush the front door, the plan being that the Death Eaters will come out the back way - and Bill and the other two bide their time in cover behind the house. They do not have to wait long. Three hooded figures rush towards them, and are felled by Remus and Bill. Kingsley is already heading for the back door.

Bill's head jerks up at a scream from one of the twins.

"Damn! There's someone still in there…" He is trying to keep the fear in his voice under control. It is his kid brothers in there…

Kingsley nods, but enters the house anyway, his wand raised. Bill follows. Remus skirts round to the front.

"It's okay, we got him…" Fred is in the kitchen, a Death Eater bound and gagged – none too loosely – at his feet. George is sitting on a chair by the table, looking pale and shaken, but grinning faintly. There is blood on his shirt.

Bill leans back against the kitchen cupboard, weak with relief.

This time – again - they are okay.

**XXXXIII. Mother and child reunion**_ (Molly and Charlie)_

"Have you been eating properly?"

"Mum… I'm nineteen, I do know how to look after myself."

Molly snorts. "Really? Then why are you thinner? And is that a burn on your arm? Really, Charlie, now you've done it for a while, you've had the experience, you could find a _proper _job."

Charlie grins slyly. "Like Bill's, you mean?"

"I was thinking of something in the Ministry…"

Now Charlie laughs out loud. "Me? You've got to be kidding. Dragons are much more my thing, Mum."

He hugs her, and she smiles despite herself. Of course he is right.

**XXXXIV. Night Vision**_ (Molly)_

Night is the hardest. In the day she is busy – always busy. With six children, how can she be anything other than busy?

But at night – when Ronnie has finally settled, and even the twins are sleeping in an appearance of deceptive innocence – she has time to think and to worry.

Is Arthur safe in his job? What if You Know Who takes over the Ministry?

The children – what if this goes on for years, and they are involved? _Please_ - it _has_ to be over before they are old enough to be hurt by all this. (Bill and Charlie already know far more about war than is healthy for children their age.)

And Fabian and Gideon – are they safe tonight?

Every night, Molly worries.

**XXXXV. True**_ (Fabian and Gideon)_

They fight for what is right, for what is true.

They do not believe they have a choice. This is their world, and they will – they must – defend it.

For the sake of those who cannot – or will not - fight themselves. The Muggle-borns, those who cannot go along with the idea of a magical nobility, those who know what really matters, who think as they do, but do not fight for whatever reason.

For Molly and Arthur, for others who will not risk themselves. "For the sake of the children." That attitude frustrates both of them, though Fabian at least can see the point.

But they fight for the truth for the sake of those same children. They do not want Billy or Charlie or little Perce, or Molly's unborn twins to grow up in a world dominated by You Know Who's lies.

It is exhilarating sometimes. Almost like a drug, or like great sex.

Other times it is plain terrifying.

Or maddening, frustrating, infuriating.

Or plain sad. Marlene, Benjy, Edgar – so many dead. Their friends.

But they keep fighting. They have to.

Truth matters.


	10. X

_For Cassandra, and everyone who was present at the Birthday Party of the Century at the Sober Universe Forum. _

_Special thanks to Suzanne for 47. (And yes, it is a tiny hint as to what's coming in "Birthdays and Beyond", but if you've read "Sharing" it's nothing you don't know already!)_

_Cyndi Lauper, The Beatles, The Eurythmics, System of a Down and The Electric Light Orchestra._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**XLVI. True Colours**_(Percy)_

Now is the time. He has to go back now, whatever the risk, whatever the cost.

He has to show who he really is, what he really believes in. If his family yell at him, ignore him, even hit him, he doesn't care.

Finally, he has to show who he really is, what he really believes in.

He tumbles into the Room of Requirement and is stunned to see practically his whole family there. Fred – typically Fred – makes a joke of it, and he goes along with it, and admits what an idiot, a prat, a _git_ he was. His brother's hand is gripping his, he can't believe it. His mother is hugging him. It is going to be okay.

This is who he really is. He is back where he belongs.

At last.

It is going to be alright.

**XLVII. Birthday**_ (George)_

People. Noise. Laughter. Good food and drink.

Cake and candles.

On his own. That's the problem. He's never had a birthday to himself before and it feels so wrong.

He does all that's expected of him. Eats the meal, opens the presents, joins in the impromptu Quidditch match, blows out the candles (on his own…) Even manages to smile. But it's an effort, and his face aches.

In bed that night, the smile is gone.

Happy birthday, Fred…

**XLVIII. Who's That Girl**_ (Bill)_

She looks vaguely familiar, but he can't place her. The blonde hair, the way she tosses it back, her expression of studied concentration as she works – he is sure he's seen her before.

He asks his friend Zoran, and he laughs at him. "Blimey, Weasley, you've only been back two days and you're already chasing the girls…"

Bill doesn't deny it. Merely waits for Zoran to give him the information in his own good time.

Zoran tells him her name – Fleur Delacour – and the Sickle drops. The Triwizard Champion, of course. He was focused on Harry – and on what happened after – he was barely aware of the Beauxbatons girl then. But now – he thinks he'd like to know more about her.

**XLIX. Soldier side**_ (Molly and Fred)_

This is the bit of war that they all tried not to think about until it happened. They all knew the theory of course, knew that any one of them could die.

They'd come close – many of them – many times. Molly cried every time one of her sons or her husband left on a mission. She knew it was possible they might not come back.

And too many times, they nearly hadn't.

But this time – when it was over, when they should be celebrating – one hadn't.

Fred lies in the row of dead in the Great Hall, his hair as vivid as ever, a smile on his lips, but his eyes closed and his face and whole body still. The War is over, but they have lost their son, their brother.

And George – she cannot bear to look at George, but she does, because he is her son too – looks as still, his eyes as dead as his twin's.

They have won, but they have lost.

This is the reality of war.

**L. Evil Woman**_ (Molly)_

This woman – this bitch – would kill her daughter. She has lost one child tonight, she isn't about to lose another.

And Hermione and Luna too.

(Hermione might as well be her daughter, and if she is reading the signs right, might well be in truth one day. And Hermione's own mother has forgotten she even has a daughter.)

(Luna's died years ago. Molly will stand in her place.)

Bellatrix Black made her choices – or perhaps she didn't, maybe she was as shaped by her upbringing, her circumstances, the people she was close to as Molly Prewett was herself.

But the reasons for how they are as they are are immaterial now. Bellatrix embodies all that is wrong, all that is bad, all that is evil about this war, about tonight.

She has lost one child, and she will not, _cannot_, lose another.

She fights as she has never fought before.

Good against evil.

It is as simple, as inevitable, as right as that.

Molly wins, as she knew she would.

For Luna. For Hermione. For Ginny.

For Fred.

For all the children.


	11. XI

_The Beatles, U2, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, The Beatles again._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**LI. Come Together**_ (The Weasley Family)_

They are back together at last. (Well, Charlie isn't here yet, but the rest of them are damn sure he's on his way.)

But this wasn't the time or the place they imagined Percy coming back. Now they are on the brink of a battle in which they might all die. The entire wizarding world could fall apart tonight – or they could win, they could all somehow get through this, their lives could be _normal_ again.

There is no time for explanations or apologies or expressed regrets. But there is time for forgiveness and hope and "welcome home".

Percy is back. Back with his family, back where he belongs.

They are splitting up, going their different ways for the inevitable fight that is coming, but in a way that isn't tangible they are together.

If one of them, some of them, all of them die tonight, they have had this.

They are together now.

**LII. I Will Follow**_ (Ron and Hermione)_

They know that who they are is inextricably linked in everyone's minds with Harry. They are not Ron Weasley and Hermione Weasley (nee Granger). They are Harry Potter's friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley. Two thirds of the bloody Golden Trio. The less important two thirds.

They didn't realise that of course when it started. They were just three kids making friends.

By the time things really took off, they couldn't go back. They were in too deep. Committed to Harry, and to each other.

They would follow him whatever the cost – into the Chamber of Secrets, to the Ministry, on a hunt that none of them really understood, into battle if they had to. Whatever he asked, they would follow him. Not always willingly, not always without argument, but because they were committed.

Because they knew that following Harry meant following what was right.

Really, they never had a choice.

**LIII. Only the Good Die Young**_ (Fred and George)_

"What the hell are we doing running a joke shop, George? There's a bloody war on."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." George's tone is very dry. He looks up at his brother from his position on the floor unpacking boxes. "You know what we're doing. What we always wanted to do. If we give up on this, we're letting bloody You Know Who win. Aren't we?"

Fred grimaces. "I'd like to see you convince Mum that running a joke shop is our duty for the cause…"

George grins. "Don't you think she'd buy it?" He sobers abruptly. "Seriously, Fred, don't give up on me now. We need to do this. It's not like we're not fighting too. Snap out of it!"

Fred's mouth twists, and he shrugs. Sometimes he wonders if he and George ever had their priorities right, but what his twin said did make a sort of sense.

"So by having fun we're cocking a snook at You Know Who?" he queries.

George nods emphatically. "Yep. And probably keeping ourselves safe too. After all, only the good die young."

**LIV. Hearts and Bones**_ (Charlie)_

It is quiet and shady here. It feels like a thousand miles from anywhere. There is the occasional noise of a Muggle car passing, children's voices from the playground down the hill, the church clock striking. But he feels as if he might be the only person in the world here and now.

He looks at the older gravestones first. They are easy. Gran and Grandad Weasley – he doesn't remember them at all. Granny and Gramps Prewett– Gramps died when he was only two, but he was nearly five when Granny died. He remembers her soft kisses, the way she smelt of roses and lilac.

Fabian and Gideon. His uncles and his heroes. The coolest people he ever met. Heroes in every sense of the world.

The newest gravestone is the hardest. It is the reason he is here, today, on his own. Trying to face the reality. (He knows it, but still can't quite believe it).

"_Frederick Gideon Weasley"_

Fred. His little brother.

Charlie sighs and conjures a wreath of Christmas roses and ivy for his brother's grave.

"His brother's grave."

It will never sound any easier.

He lets the wind and the sun dry the tears from his cheeks, and is grateful that he came here alone.

**LV. And I Love Her**_ (Arthur)_

He turns and sees her walking towards him, and knows that the widest smile is on his face. But he doesn't care what he looks like.

In a few minutes Molly Anne Prewett, will be Molly Anne Weasley.

His for ever. To have and to hold, to look after, to protect. They will be each other's to love and to cherish, in sickness in health, in good times and bad, for richer for poorer.

Whatever happens, they will be together.

They belong together.

She looks straight at him and smiles.

He loves her.


	12. XII

_Sting (and for "Russians" read "Death Eaters"), Queen, The Human League, the Mamma Mia soundtrack and U2._

**Weasley Shuffle**

**LVI. Russians **_(Arthur)_

"For the sake of the children."

This is supposed to be for the children. They are fighting to make a better world for their children. First time round, he and Molly refused to join the Order to protect their children. They still wonder if that was the right decision.

This time they – and most of their children – are in the Order, up to their necks in the war. Fighting for the future – for the grandchildren yet to be born.

But surely those on the other side love their children too? Why are they fighting? To make a better world for their children and grandchildren, as he is doing?

It makes no sense.

But they fight because they have to. Because they believe in what they are fighting for. For the sake of the children.

_The battle is over. The injured are being tended, the bodies laid out. There is celebration, and mourning._

_And the Death Eaters who have not managed to escape are being rounded up. Arthur sees Voldo Crabbe, and knows that the dead, disbelieving look in his eyes is probably mirrored in his own._

_They have both lost a son tonight._

**LVII. You're My Best Friend**_ (Fred and George)_

Lee is Fred and George's best friend.

But however close they are to him, he is not one of them. Not one of the twins. He is always "Fred and George's friend". Always just that little bit of an outsider.

George's best friend is Fred. Fred's is George. They really don't need anyone else. They rely on each other, stick up for each other, egg each other on. They are there for each other. All the time, whatever happens.

After Fred dies, George discovers what a real friend is. Lee is there for him. He listens to him, drinks with him, stays overnight in the flat over the shop on numerous occasions, helps him rebuild the shop even though doing so interferes with his own plans. He cries with him too. And sometimes laughs.

Lee is George's best friend.

**LVIII. Don't You want Me**_ (Hermione)_

He is gone. No hope of him coming back. Now she and Harry have moved on, there is no way of him finding them again.

They have lost him.

_She_ has lost him.

Harry is tiptoeing round her, trying to show his sympathy without being too obtrusive about it. Of course, Ron has walked out on him too – but it doesn't feel like that. It feels like he has rejected her, and her only.

She tells herself it's not her. It's the war, it's You Know Who, it's this fruitless search, it's the _sodding_ locket round his neck.

But it doesn't feel like that.

He doesn't want _her_.

**LIX. Voulez Vous**_ (Bill and Fleur)_

They both feel as if they shouldn't be doing this.

"There's a bloody war on," Bill said when Fleur suggested it. The rest of it he left unspoken – their membership of the Order, the fact that Ron and Harry and Hermione are off goodness knows where, the horrors Ginny is enduring at school, the danger they live under every minute of every day. _"There's a bloody war on"_ about covers it.

But Fleur got her way – as she usually does – and now they are in a Muggle nightclub, dancing and drinking too much and enjoying the escape.

Tomorrow – when Bill has to get up for work, when their heads are cloudy on the planned Order mission in the evening and Kingsley or Remus yells at them, when they have to lie to Molly or Arthur (or, Merlin help them, to the twins) about what they did this evening – they may regret it.

Now, it is just what they need.

**LX. Yahweh**_ (The Weasley Family)_

What they have to give may not be enough. But they will give all they can for the cause they believe in. Perhaps their motives are not always pure. Perhaps they are not giving all that they could all of the time. Perhaps (certainly) they are frightened.

But they are doing their best, every one of them. Fighting as they can, as they have the opportunity for, every one of them.

And it hurts, and it costs, and at the back of all their minds is the thought that one of them, some of them, even all of them, may have to give literally everything in the cause.

But they keep going because they hope, they believe, they trust that one day there will be an end to this.

This is the dark before the dawn.

They have to believe it.


End file.
